Schroders holds payout amid steady half-year with flat managed assets

Schroders PLC on Thursday reported stable assets under management and kept its interim dividend unchanged, saying it is making ‘strong progress on transformation’, though the cost of this restructuring programme hurt its bottom line in the first half.

The London-based financial services firm operates three divisions: Public Markets, Schroders Capital and Wealth Management.

Assets under management, including joint ventures and associates, was £776.6 billion on June 30, down marginally from £773.7 billion a year before. Schroders said positive market movements and investment performance was outweighed by negative currency movements due to the weaker dollar.

Gross inflows were £68.2 billion in the first half, up 8% from a year before, but Schroders suffered a net outflow of £1.0 billion. The net outflow is primarily due to outflows from money market funds in the first quarter in its Fund Management Co venture with China’s Bank of Communications. The two banks have worked together since 2005.

JVs & Associates had £5.5 billion in net outflows in total in the first half of the year. Additionally, the Public Markets division had £500 million in net outflows. However, Asset Management had £1.8 billion in net inflows and Wealth Management had £4.5 billion in net inflows.

Net new business, excluding JVs and associates, was £4.5 billion, including positive £2.7 billion for Wealth Management and £2.3 billion for Schroders Capital.

Pretax profit in the six months that ended June 30 was £196.9 million, down 29% from £276.3 million a year before. This reflected portfolio restructuring charges of £56.0 million and ‘transformation’ costs of £44.9 million.

Excluding these, adjusted operating profit was £316.0 million, up 7.4% from £294.1 million a year before on adjusted net operating income of £1.21 billion, up 2.9% from £1.18 billion.

Schroders declared an interim dividend of 6.5 pence per share, unchanged from a year before.

‘Our three-year transformation programme sets out a clear strategy to create a high performing, resilient, and growing business,’ said Chief Executive Richard Oldfield. ‘I’m pleased with our progress - we’re ahead of plan and moving at pace. Since March, we have quickly taken bold and difficult actions, as we right-size our business and focus on the areas where we have competitive edge, positioning us for profitable growth.’

Schroders shares were down 0.6% to 387.60 pence midday Thursday in London.

Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.